Posted: Sat Aug 08, 2009 12:26 pm Post subject: What do you do on your day off?

Tell me about your day off from work and life. I'm not talking about taking the day off to run errands, do spring cleaning, renovate your kitchen or rearrange your closet and sock drawer.

What do you do with your time when you carve out one day away from work and responsibility?

Right before I moved to San Diego, I spent one of my best day's off in Pasadena browsing at a book store all morning and then having a long leisurely lunch at Le Pain Quotidien. I overhead someone rave about the gazpacho soup (definitely worth the high praise) so I ordered it myself along with an open faced sandwich and the strong coffee which they serve in adorable mini latte bowls.

I ended the day with a visit to the local art museum --- the Norton Simon Museum. The founder of the museum, Norton Simon, came into art collecting (and appreciation) really late in life but made up for lost time by amassing a remarkable collection that could be the basis for any overview Art History class for western and oriental art.

Whenever I visit the museum, I always make a point of visiting two of my favorite but rather obscure pieces --- the elaborately carved 1850 ivory chess set from India (where chess was invented) and the tiny Reclining Nude by Watteau. The garden is also a stunning oasis.

It depends on the time of day and time of year. I absolutely hate the cold. So during the winter I hibernate. I'll read, watch movies, or watch T.V. I am not ashamed to say I like T.V., however I don't rot my brain with a lot of trash. I love Discovery Channel, National Geographic, Food Network, etc. Now come Spring and summer, you won't find me. When I lived in Germany, I'd hop on the Deutschebahn and take random trips to Luxembourg City. Or when we got four day holidays, I would be in Italy, or Amsterdam, or Paris.

Now, in the Pacific Northwest, I'll wander over to Portland, Seattle, I want to go to Vancouver, BC badly, but the traffic on the highway leading north is absolutely horrid because of construction north of Seattle and at the border, so I wimp out. And I just walk around, go to random book stores and any other sites that catch my eye and just stay till I get ready to leave._________________Live as if to die tomorrow. Learn as if to live forever.
Mahatma Gandhi

I love spending an entire day watching TV when it's rainy outside (very rare in California) and too cold to leave the house. My favorite TV day is when there's a Twilight Zone marathon. They usually do them around Thanksgiving and the 4th of July. I have too many favorite episodes to mention.

The perfect meal for a Twilight Zone marathon is a really unhealthy meal like chili cheese dogs with onions and a side of fries. I only eat like that once a year so I really enjoy it have no regrets. It helps me justify eating better all the other 364 days of the year._________________"Help! Help! I'm being repressed!" --- Monty Python and the Holy Grail

Love the Twilight Zone Harpo. But when I was younger it scared the crap out of me, especially the episode How to serve man. My favorite shows to watch during a marathon is Dirty Jobs, Top Chef, and The Nanny. Popcorn has always been my go to when watching a long stretch of T.V. But when it's cold outside, a nice hot bowl of tomato soup and some garlic bread hits the spot. _________________Live as if to die tomorrow. Learn as if to live forever.
Mahatma Gandhi

My winter marathon, when there is too much snow and it's too cold and the fire is going is all 3 extended parts of Lord of the Rings. (but I have to say I'm looking for a really rainy coolish Sunday later this month so I can just sit down and watch Dexter Season #3 which comes out this week!!)_________________Vivant Linguae Mortuae!!

Like you I can easily lose time in a book shop... and money!! I have also gone to museums. But these days now I have less money to go anywhere, I read, write (part way through the second in a trilogy) and study more of what I love; folklore, folktales and myths.

Occasionally I'll go for a walk through the campus of Loughborough University which is where I work during term-time or to town to sit in the library and read and go for a coffee at midday.

I've so far been on two shopping trips with my 'second family' sister Jane who is the best sister I never had. We shop, pause for coffee and chat... shop some more... coffee and chat!

I am also trying to get the nerve to make a pattern for an 18th century coat... which I still haven't made!

I watch TV only when there is something I specifically want to watch but I also use the BBC iPlayer for programmes on radio and tv. I listened to a great radio version of Raymond Chandler's The Little Sister on Sunday and watched Miss Firecracker with the wonderful Holly Hunter a very under-used actress in my opinion. She deserves to be right up there with the more widely used actresses. I'll take her over Katherine Heigl anytime. Pretty tho' KH is._________________Confusion comes fitted as standard.

Wow, your idea for making a pattern for an 18th C coat sounds luxurious! I love it when people revive the art of the past and bring that to a whole new audience.

I used to capitalize on my insomnia by listening to the BBC's Off the Shelf series where great actors would read from the classics. I love being read to, especially by British actors. I think the drama academies in England do a lot of voice training. Goodness, I miss the London stage!

bainst,

That Twilight Zone episode "To Serve Man" was the one I was thinking about as I was posting. (I guess it suits this forum.) That whole series was so well written, cast and performed. One of the best episodes ever was "The Hitchhiker." The female protagonist's narration as the creepy story unfolds is just chilling!_________________"Help! Help! I'm being repressed!" --- Monty Python and the Holy Grail

A good day off is to get on my bike and pedal to the Saturday morning Farmer's Market. Given the climate in Wisconsin, this not a year round activity what with the challenge presented to both cyclists and market farmers by snow and freezing temperatures.

The length of winter makes those Saturdays on my bike all the more marvelous. My preferred route goes through farmland and an urban bike path along the Fox River. My last ride included views of a pair of sandhill cranes, broods of geese, and a flock of the white pelicans that summer here.

Since C&Z is a food based site, you'll be happy to know that the market stalls include one offering a bottomless cup of very good coffee and another that sells pastries like those I ate in my grandmother's kitchen some 50 years ago. At 50 cents each, I have several and promise myself that I'll dust off grandma's recipe.

When I read this the other day I really had to sit and think "WHAT do I actually do on a day off???????" It had me a bit stumped as I have been studying furiously for so long I couldn't remember a day where I did no work.

Well, yesterday changed that. A girlfriend and I took the day off from study/work and played hookey in a fabulous way. It was a really hot day here so we put on nice girly summer dresses and sandals and then ........

First the movies to see Victoria - a great girly movie.

Second thing was to sit on the terrasse at a cafe and have a cool drink and chat about the movie, holiday plans, what to do for the rest of the day, life the universe and everything, etc

Third, a quick snack to fortify us and allow us to continue our mission of lazy indulgence.

Fourth, we went and had manicures and pedicures. Two hours of absolute bliss!!!!!

Fifth, was getting in the car (careful of the pretty toes and fingers) and driving to Place Victor Hugo where we sat outside a cafe and had drinks with friends while the sun went down.

Then I hopped on the metro and went home to my husband feeling refreshed and recharged.

The last time I had a girly day out we went to the sales in the wholesale quartier and found real bargains. It was serious business though, not a day of indulgence. _________________If you cannot feel your arteries hardening, eat more cheese. If you can, drink more red wine. Diet is just "die" with a "t" on the end. Exercise is walking into the kitchen.

Joined: 18 Oct 2004Posts: 1654Location: Within view of Elliot Bay, The Olympics and every ship in the Sound

Posted: Thu Aug 13, 2009 8:11 pm Post subject:

Bainst, Take the train to BC. You can catch the Amtrak on Pac HWY in Tacoma. You should really go, it is one of my favorite cities ever. Here is a link to one of my favorite places to stay there: http://www.hotellesoleil.com/

If you go you must hit Granville Island, (you can take the water taxi from downtown) where they have an awesome food market. Then putter around Kitsalano where they have a lot of really stylish home shops. My great-grandmother lived in the Dunbar neighborhood which I always loved, though if you are there without a car it won't be so convienient. I think more than anything I just really love to grab an outdoor seat in one of the cafes there and people watch. Well, that and when the exchange rate is good, buying cheap Aveda.

Harpospeaking, I knew it was sunny here in gorgeous CA, but this is ridiculous. I actually got excited about using my windshield wipers for one swipe last week. I guess that's what happens when you send a northwesterner south.

As for me, I pretty much keep my own schedule, but I rarely work on the weekends. We like to poke around our new favorite bookstore, have treats at Della Fattoria, or continue our quest for the best Mexican food in Northern California. We also like to hop on the motorcycle and head to the coast for smoked salmon from the old hippie near the Russian River estuary or to Tomales Bay for oysters. If we don't feel like going out there is a pretty good chance we will be playing Scrabble or Gin or watching old movies. We've been on a Borgart kick lately.

Of course the main thing I like to do is just hang out with Phil. He's a pretty cool kat._________________"It's watery....and yet there's a smack of ham."

One thing I used to always do when I lived in Pasadena (a habit that started in law school) is to get some drive thru food (often In-n-Out) and park in front of my house, open the sunroof and eat under the stars.

Now that I live in San Diego, it just occurred to me that I haven't had one of those meals under the stars from inside my car. I'm starting to realize that for me, a home doesn't truly become a home until I have a certain set of rituals associated with it. I guess I'll spend the next couple of years creating new rituals around this new house._________________"Help! Help! I'm being repressed!" --- Monty Python and the Holy Grail